An Assignment From the High Council

[Scarlett De Fontaine]

Earth

Lani shrugged. "If you want, but I thought we were going on a girl's night out."

***
Library of the High Council - Citadel - Gallifrey

The Librarian nodded, understanding very well that what he said about Aragorn was true.

"Alright, if you're sure. I'm sure I'll see you again sometime," she said as she headed toward the counter to clock out and get one of her assistants to help Correon.

"See you later, Professor," she said as she headed out the door, waving as she went. It seemed a bit funny saying that line again, now that she was grown and out of the academy for some time.

[Davros]

Davros wheeled amongst the many stalls displaying various areas of the genetics project that students had been working on,he'd been thrown out of the main lecture for laughing too much.How could he help it? humanity's primitive understanding of genetics was hilarious to him,they hadn't even grasped antiribosomal nano nucleotidal splicing,he was in stitches just thinking about it.A large plaque at the end of a row of displays read:

'Many thanks to our generous donors'

Under this was a long list of names,one in particular got him exited."Kari Smith!"he said to himself,"So I am in the right place".

[The Tenth Doctor]

Library of the High Council - Citadel - Gallifrey

"See you later, Librarian," Correon answered as one of the Librarian's assistants began to lead him away.

______

Aragorn remained seated on the bench in the garden.
_________
Earth
Kari glanced at Lani and shrugged, "No, if it was today, I missed it. Don't worry about it. Let's continue with our girl's night out."

[Davros]

Davros returned to the transmat relay he had set up in the wasteland.A Dalek had transmatted down and was acting as a guard on the off chance the device would be discovered.Davros deactivated his shimmer device for a momentary rest from the irritating psychic emissions it produced,turning to the Dalek he told it ,"We are in the correct place,the girl is near.Return to the ship and access this institution's student database using earth's crude computer network,locate the mobile communication number for one Kari Smith.If she carries her comm device with her at all times like many did in this bizarre period a simple triangulation will be able to tell us exactly where she is.

The Dalek signified its understanding and touched the relay,vanishing in a flash of blue light.Davros sat patiently drumming his fingers on his chair,awaiting the results.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Earth
Kari had her cell phone with her, and it was on.

She looked at her best friend, "So....what do you want to do? Go shopping or for a walk or....?" Sometimes Lani had ideas that she didn't have...could be more creative. "Are your parents coming to visit any time soon? I should probably call mine...haven't seen them in a while."

[Davros]

After several minutes the Dalek re-emerged from the transmat relay and informed Davros,"We have traced the de-vice,it is less than nought point three miles a-way from this loca-tion."

"Excellent,"exclaimed Davros reactivating his shimmer,"I shall pursue them myself,relay their location to my chair".

The transmat guard was left alone as Davros took off down the alley at his chair's top speed interpreting flashing lights on his control panel as directions.He tore down cloistered campus pathways passing fountains and bewildered gaggles of students for many minutes until he arrived at the edge of a large stretch of grass where he saw two females standing nonchalantly under a tree,one of them had to be her.He stared intently observing them from a distance.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Kari studied Lani for a while, not really paying attention to any of the other students around her. She was waiting on a reply from Lani, hoping that she had some good ideas. Thus, she didn't notice the student in the motorized wheelchair who was watching them from a distance.

[Davros]

Even though Davros was standing in the open neither of the females paid much attention to him.That was the thing about perception filters,they tended to make you go unnoticed.He felt confident enough to go closer and try to determine which one was Kari,he inched his chair forward onto the grass which was squashed flat by the weight of its dalekanium base.He was now less than half a meter away,this was risky,any moment now he could be noticed and he would have to rely on his human disguise alone.

[The Tenth Doctor]

As Kari was waiting for Lani to reply, she noticed a young man in a wheelchair inching his way closer to them. She'd never seen him before, but that didn't necessarily mean that this person was a new student. She smiled at this newcomer. "Hello," she called out to the disguised Davros.

[Davros]

Davros choked,he was not expecting them to interact with him."Err..Greetings"he said nervously,anxious not to make a behavioural mistake that could give him away,"I am...new to this...academy,my name is erm,Davros...uh Dave.Dave Ross."

[The Tenth Doctor]

Kari looked back at Davros. This man seemed to be nervous, even stumbling over his own name. "Hi, Dave....are you finding your way around the campus okay? Is there something that we could help you with? Do you need to find a class or a building or something?"

She studied him. Of course his disability was obvious, but Kari didn't mind. People with disabilities didn't bother her, and she wasn't intimidated by them. She knew better than to ask him what was wrong with him, although she was curious. He was sort of good looking.

[Davros]

Earth
"Oh no I'm settling in fine,I've just attended the most entertaining genetics lecture I've ever seen.I've not laughed so hard in years"Davros replied through Dave's mouth,"Although...there is someone I am looking for.I think her name is Kari,Kari Smith."

Gallifrey-A large city of common Gallifreyans
Outside a large building bearing the seal of Rassilon with a large transmission dish on its roof two men strode confidently to a small grey booth outside,they were each carrying large bags made of a strange material.They both vanished into the booth...

Inside it was larger,but not by much,if the outside was the size of a phone box in here with its chair and large computer console on the wall it was as big as a bus shelter.Dumping their bags in a corner one of the men turned to the other and said,"There you go Beta,that should be enough protein pills to last the journey.Have a good time."

"Thank you I will,its good to be on the road again." the other replied sitting in the comfortable organic chair,he was trying to be cheerful but inside he was fraught with anxiety,if this series was not the best he'd ever made the network would replace him for sure."I'll send you a telepathic message when I arrive at my first stop off point.Perhaps I already have."

Bidding Beta one last farewell the runner stepped out of the booth and trudged off back into the building.In the small TARDIS Beta pressed a switch on the console,the doors slid shut.Bracing himself he put his hand on a large important lever as his camera droid floated down from somewhere in the rafters,he turned to its cold glass eye and adressed it "I am Betagorum,come with me on my latest expedition ,to sol three!"

He slammed down the big important lever and he faded away into the vortex with a grind and a whir.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Earth
Kari drew a sharp intake of breath when this stranger, this Dave, told her that he was specifically looking for her. Perhaps this was one of the members of the research team that she and the others on the project were expecting? She didn't know for sure, so she asked Dave, "Why are you looking for her?"

His answer would tell her whether or not he was one of the research team.

[Davros]

Earth
"I am looking for her because....because."said Davros trawling his limited knowledge of Kari for a plausible reason to be looking for,"To tell her the people on the genetics project need her to fill out another survey".That sounded logical,people involved in student projects always had to fill out forms,he knew it didn't make much sense that they would send someone so unfamiliar with the university to find her but it was the best he could think of on the spot.

The Time Vortex
Beta sat cushioned from the matter destroying radiations outside in his little vessel,he relaxed as his TARDIS glided slowly on through the void,vibrating gently with the whirring of the engines.The camera droid kept a constant watch over him as he flicked through various readouts on the console screen,it was tedious work to sit there watching the figures reel by:

Core Temperature:Normal
Artron flow:Normal
Co-ordinate feed:!FATAL ERROR! check immediately

Beta was jerked out of his placid mood by the sudden warning,something like this had caused that awful crash not so long ago.Springing into action he got out of his seat and wrenched aside a metal panel revealing a miniature de-materialisation circuit and time rotor,its rises and drops seemed juddery and laboured.One poke of the circuit with his finger sent a sudden flash of sparks and smoke into the air,this was very not good indeed.

"The network should really upgrade me to a better TARDIS,"he mumbled to himself forgetting he was being filmed,"Or at least give me enough money to replace this wretched 'temperamental' de-mat chip."He'd never make it to sol three with the engine in its present condition,he'd have to make an emergency fast return.He confidently pressed a small red button on the console and was neatly knocked of his feet as the ship violently spun and changed direction,he was freefalling back to Gallifrey.

[Scarlett De Fontaine]

Earth

Lani was sorta spacing out from lack of sleep. She looked over to Kari and the guy in the wheelchair, trying to see if she could catch up in what had happened. One thing she hated about those spontaneous nights on the town was that she never got any good sleep, then the next day was shot. She wanted to go someplace to just hang out, but she had no idea where to go. She enjoyed Kari's company and preferred it of the other girls in the dorm floor she was in charge of.